news 2021
« BACK
Environment - Life Sciences - 04.03.2021 
Invasiveness facilitated by a large gene pool
In Lake Constance, sticklebacks are occupying increasingly varied habitat types - in recent years even including the open and deep waters of the lake. In an Eawag review undertaken as part of the "SeeWandel" project, these uniquely diverse ecological adaptations are explained in terms of renewed contact between three stickleback lineages - including one originating from the Baltic region, whose genetic material is as yet rarely observed in other Swiss lakes.
Agronomy / Food Science - Life Sciences - 02.03.2021 
Rice Plant Resists Arsenic
The agricultural cultivation of the staple food of rice harbours the risk of possible contamination with arsenic that can reach the grains following uptake by the roots. In their investigation of over 4,000 variants of rice, a Chinese-German research team under the direction of Rüdiger Hell from the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) of Heidelberg University and Fang-Jie Zhao of Nanjing Agricultural University (China) discovered a plant variant that resists the toxin.
Life Sciences - 01.03.2021 
How a plant regulates its growth
Molecular mechanisms of polar growth in plants Plants grow in two directions: the shoots of plants grow toward the light to make the best use of it, and the roots grow toward the center of the earth into the soil. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in collaboration with two research groups in Vienna, has now been able to describe in detail how the molecular mechanisms work that control these processes.
Health - Life Sciences - 26.02.2021 
Cancer: a new killer lymphocyte enters the ring
A team from SCCL has discovered that CD4 T lymphocytes, which usually play a supporting role in fighting cancer cells, also have the power to destroy them. Treatments for beating tumours are mainly based on CD8 T lymphocytes, which specialise in detecting and eliminating intracellular infections and in killing cancer cells.
Health - Life Sciences - 26.02.2021 
SARS-CoV-2 mutations in competition
How dangerous are new mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus? An international team involving researchers from the Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) of the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office BLV and the University of Bern (Switzerland), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), and the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute (Germany), has developed an approach that can accurately assess the transmissibility of new virus mutants.
Life Sciences - Physics - 26.02.2021
Life Sciences - Health - 26.02.2021
Health - Life Sciences - 25.02.2021
Life Sciences - 25.02.2021 
Artificial ’brain’ reveals why we can’t always believe our eyes
A computer network closely modelled on part of the human brain is enabling new insights into the way our brains process moving images - and explains some perplexing optical illusions. It's very hard to directly measure what's going on inside the human brain when we perceive motion - even our best medical technology can't show us the entire system at work.
Life Sciences - Health - 25.02.2021
Life Sciences - 24.02.2021 
Mapping the brain of a nematode worm
Researchers have mapped the physical organisation of the brain of a soil-living nematode worm, creating a new model for the architecture of the animal's brain. They found a large degree of variation in the structure of some neural circuits or pathways in individual worms which complemented a core set of neural circuits common to the animals.
Life Sciences - Health - 24.02.2021 
Reactivating Aging Stem Cells in the Brain
As people get older, their neural stem cells lose the ability to proliferate and produce new neurons, leading to a decline in memory function. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now discovered a mechanism linked to stem cell aging - and how the production of neurons can be reactivated. The stem cells in our brain generate new neurons throughout life, for example in the hippocampus.
Physics - Life Sciences - 24.02.2021
Health - Life Sciences - 23.02.2021 
Global travellers vulnerable to drug-resistant bacteria - study
International travellers are particularly vulnerable to virulent strains of drug-resistant bacteria - often picking up several different types during a trip through spending time in the company of other tourists, a new study reveals. The global spread of intestinal multidrug resistant gram-negative (MDR-GN) bacteria poses a serious threat to human health worldwide, with MDR clones of E.coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae threatening more antibiotic resistant infections around the world.
Life Sciences - Transport - 23.02.2021 
A memory without a brain
How a single cell slime mold makes smart decisions without a central nervous system Having a memory of past events enables us to take smarter decisions about the future. Researchers at the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now identified how the slime mold Physarum polycephalum saves memories - although it has no nervous system.
Life Sciences - Criminology / Forensics - 23.02.2021
Life Sciences - Environment - 23.02.2021
Life Sciences - Health - 23.02.2021 
New therapeutic target for Huntington’s treatment
Recerca Huntington's disease is caused by a mutation in the Huntingtin gene (HTT), which appears in adults and features motor, cognitive and psychiatric alterations. The origin of this disease has been associated with the anomalous functioning of the mutated protein: mHTT, but recent data showed the involvement of other molecular mechanisms.
Health - Life Sciences - 23.02.2021
Life Sciences - Psychology - 22.02.2021 
Sleep is vital to associating emotion with memory, according to U-M study
When you slip into sleep, it's easy to imagine that your brain shuts down, but University of Michigan research suggests that groups of neurons activated during prior learning keep humming, tattooing memories into your brain. U-M researchers have been studying how memories associated with a specific sensory event are formed and stored in mice.
Life Sciences
Results 1 - 20 of 148.
In Lake Constance, sticklebacks are occupying increasingly varied habitat types - in recent years even including the open and deep waters of the lake. In an Eawag review undertaken as part of the "SeeWandel" project, these uniquely diverse ecological adaptations are explained in terms of renewed contact between three stickleback lineages - including one originating from the Baltic region, whose genetic material is as yet rarely observed in other Swiss lakes.
The agricultural cultivation of the staple food of rice harbours the risk of possible contamination with arsenic that can reach the grains following uptake by the roots. In their investigation of over 4,000 variants of rice, a Chinese-German research team under the direction of Rüdiger Hell from the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) of Heidelberg University and Fang-Jie Zhao of Nanjing Agricultural University (China) discovered a plant variant that resists the toxin.
Molecular mechanisms of polar growth in plants Plants grow in two directions: the shoots of plants grow toward the light to make the best use of it, and the roots grow toward the center of the earth into the soil. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in collaboration with two research groups in Vienna, has now been able to describe in detail how the molecular mechanisms work that control these processes.
A team from SCCL has discovered that CD4 T lymphocytes, which usually play a supporting role in fighting cancer cells, also have the power to destroy them. Treatments for beating tumours are mainly based on CD8 T lymphocytes, which specialise in detecting and eliminating intracellular infections and in killing cancer cells.
How dangerous are new mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus? An international team involving researchers from the Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) of the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office BLV and the University of Bern (Switzerland), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), and the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute (Germany), has developed an approach that can accurately assess the transmissibility of new virus mutants.
05.03.: Gastvortrag: Swarming Behaviour in Confinement - How curved surfaces influence pattern formation in biology
Am 05. März 2021 hält Univ. Prof. John W. C. Dunlop einen Vortrag zum Thema "Swarming Behaviour in Confinement - How curved surfaces influence pattern formation in biology." Der Vortrag findet um 14 Uhr online via Webex statt. Der Fachbereich Biowissenschaften lädt herzlich dazu ein! Univ.
Am 05. März 2021 hält Univ. Prof. John W. C. Dunlop einen Vortrag zum Thema "Swarming Behaviour in Confinement - How curved surfaces influence pattern formation in biology." Der Vortrag findet um 14 Uhr online via Webex statt. Der Fachbereich Biowissenschaften lädt herzlich dazu ein! Univ.
TOPMed: Analyzing human genomes to understand mutations, human evolution
What kind of questions would you ask if you had access to the full DNA makeup of tens of thousands of people? Would you look for disease-causing mutations? Would you be curious about how modern humans are related? Those are some of the issues that researchers are studying as part of a project called TOPMed, the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine Program.
What kind of questions would you ask if you had access to the full DNA makeup of tens of thousands of people? Would you look for disease-causing mutations? Would you be curious about how modern humans are related? Those are some of the issues that researchers are studying as part of a project called TOPMed, the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine Program.
New Coronavirus Toolkit allows for ’open access’ of antibodies and genetic tools to further global research into COVID-19 variants
An international consortium, led by scientists in Scotland, have devised a Coronavirus Toolkit which gives researchers from across the world open access to materials, including antibodies and genetic tools, which can be easily and immediately ordered via an online portal - to further research into COVID-19.
An international consortium, led by scientists in Scotland, have devised a Coronavirus Toolkit which gives researchers from across the world open access to materials, including antibodies and genetic tools, which can be easily and immediately ordered via an online portal - to further research into COVID-19.
A computer network closely modelled on part of the human brain is enabling new insights into the way our brains process moving images - and explains some perplexing optical illusions. It's very hard to directly measure what's going on inside the human brain when we perceive motion - even our best medical technology can't show us the entire system at work.
Genetic treatment extends fruit fly lifespan and prevents Alzheimer’s damage
Modifying brain cell activity can extend the lifespan of fruit flies while also preventing the damage characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The researchers found that by modifying the levels of two different proteins that are active in two different types of brain cells, they could extend fruit fly lifespans by around 7-9% (close to an extra week), they report in PNAS.
Modifying brain cell activity can extend the lifespan of fruit flies while also preventing the damage characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The researchers found that by modifying the levels of two different proteins that are active in two different types of brain cells, they could extend fruit fly lifespans by around 7-9% (close to an extra week), they report in PNAS.
Researchers have mapped the physical organisation of the brain of a soil-living nematode worm, creating a new model for the architecture of the animal's brain. They found a large degree of variation in the structure of some neural circuits or pathways in individual worms which complemented a core set of neural circuits common to the animals.
As people get older, their neural stem cells lose the ability to proliferate and produce new neurons, leading to a decline in memory function. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now discovered a mechanism linked to stem cell aging - and how the production of neurons can be reactivated. The stem cells in our brain generate new neurons throughout life, for example in the hippocampus.
Video of ’dancing DNA’ developed by researchers
Videos showing for the first time how small circles of DNA adopt dance-like movements have been developed by a team led by researchers at UCL and the Universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield. The footage is based on some of the highest resolution images of a single molecule of DNA ever captured, with DNA seen to "dance" in microscopy data recorded at the London Centre for Nanotechnology at UCL. The images show in unprecedented detail how the stresses and strains that are placed on DNA when it is crammed inside cells can change its shape.
Videos showing for the first time how small circles of DNA adopt dance-like movements have been developed by a team led by researchers at UCL and the Universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield. The footage is based on some of the highest resolution images of a single molecule of DNA ever captured, with DNA seen to "dance" in microscopy data recorded at the London Centre for Nanotechnology at UCL. The images show in unprecedented detail how the stresses and strains that are placed on DNA when it is crammed inside cells can change its shape.
International travellers are particularly vulnerable to virulent strains of drug-resistant bacteria - often picking up several different types during a trip through spending time in the company of other tourists, a new study reveals. The global spread of intestinal multidrug resistant gram-negative (MDR-GN) bacteria poses a serious threat to human health worldwide, with MDR clones of E.coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae threatening more antibiotic resistant infections around the world.
How a single cell slime mold makes smart decisions without a central nervous system Having a memory of past events enables us to take smarter decisions about the future. Researchers at the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now identified how the slime mold Physarum polycephalum saves memories - although it has no nervous system.
No Certainty on Origin of Human Remains Found on Campus
Freie Universität Berlin, Max Planck Society, and Berlin State Monuments Office present the findings of their investigation into human remains found on Freie Universität land No 033/2021 from Feb 23, 2021 At an official public information event, experts from Freie Universität Berlin, the Max Planck Society, and the Berlin State Monuments Office ( Landesdenkmalamt Berlin ) presented the findings of their investigation into human remains found on the grounds of Freie Universität Berlin in recent years.
Freie Universität Berlin, Max Planck Society, and Berlin State Monuments Office present the findings of their investigation into human remains found on Freie Universität land No 033/2021 from Feb 23, 2021 At an official public information event, experts from Freie Universität Berlin, the Max Planck Society, and the Berlin State Monuments Office ( Landesdenkmalamt Berlin ) presented the findings of their investigation into human remains found on the grounds of Freie Universität Berlin in recent years.
Mutable: Graz Researchers Decode Genome of Two Cichlid Species
Nature and man must constantly adapt to new living conditions. A research team from Graz has investigated how this is done and which genes play an important role in this process using the model system of the Great Lakes of East Africa. Global warming, environmental change, dried up food sources: nature and man must constantly adapt to new living conditions.
Nature and man must constantly adapt to new living conditions. A research team from Graz has investigated how this is done and which genes play an important role in this process using the model system of the Great Lakes of East Africa. Global warming, environmental change, dried up food sources: nature and man must constantly adapt to new living conditions.
Recerca Huntington's disease is caused by a mutation in the Huntingtin gene (HTT), which appears in adults and features motor, cognitive and psychiatric alterations. The origin of this disease has been associated with the anomalous functioning of the mutated protein: mHTT, but recent data showed the involvement of other molecular mechanisms.
"Good bacteria" in breast milk changes over time
Scientists discover complex and dynamic bacterial ecosystem in human breast milk using genomic technology pioneered for the International Space Station The cocktail of beneficial bacteria passed from mother to infant through breast milk changes significantly over time and could act like a daily booster shot for infant immunity and metabolism.
Scientists discover complex and dynamic bacterial ecosystem in human breast milk using genomic technology pioneered for the International Space Station The cocktail of beneficial bacteria passed from mother to infant through breast milk changes significantly over time and could act like a daily booster shot for infant immunity and metabolism.
When you slip into sleep, it's easy to imagine that your brain shuts down, but University of Michigan research suggests that groups of neurons activated during prior learning keep humming, tattooing memories into your brain. U-M researchers have been studying how memories associated with a specific sensory event are formed and stored in mice.
